1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a utility lighter which contains a safety feature incorporating a cam mechanism and a safety button, wherein normal operation of the lighter through depression of the trigger is impeded by the safety feature, and wherein operation of both the safety button and the trigger will produce a flame.
This invention also relates to a utility lighter which contains a safety feature incorporating a safety button or release lever, wherein the safety button slides forward to operate the fuel-release valve and unlock the trigger.
2. Background Art
Utility lighters are very useful and have become quite prevalent in modern times. Utility lighters of the type described herein generally contain a handle and an elongated lighting rod. The shape and operation of utility lighters allow for several advantages over normal means of producing a flame. Most significantly, due to the elongated nature of the lighting rod, utility lighters enable the operator to stand a safe distance away from the object to be ignited before actuating the lighter, thus avoiding a large number of potential accidents. In addition, utility lighters allow a flame to be produced in hard-to-reach or narrow places, where the human hand holding a match would not normally fit. Still, in the hands of children, or others who do not know how to safely and properly operate the lighter, such lighters are as dangerous as any other spark and/or flame-producing device. Therefore, a need has been realized to equip utility lighters with safety features that minimize accidental or improper use by inexperienced persons, especially young children.
Many inventions have been created to address this safety-related concern. Generally, these inventions have sought to introduce safety mechanisms that disable automatic operation of either the spark-generation and/or the fuel-release function of the lighter. For example, some utility lighters provide for a blocking mechanism, where the actuating trigger is blocked from moving the required distance for a spark to be generated. In these lighters, the locking mechanism is normally de-activated by sliding an xe2x80x9con/offxe2x80x9d switch to the xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d position, or by other means, so as to remove the impediment from the actuating trigger""s operating path.
Although utility lighters of the type described above provide some level of safety, there is much room for improvement. Specifically, in these lighters, once the locking means (e.g., the on/off switch) is disabled, the lighter remains in the unlocked state until the locking mechanism is activated again. Therefore, if the operator disables the locking mechanism in order to use the lighter, and then forgets to re-lock the lighter, the safety feature of the lighter is rendered useless, until the locking mechanism is again activated.
Other inventions have attempted to address the safety-related issues by impeding not the operation of the trigger, but that of the fuel-release mechanism. Of course, a utility lighter containing such a mechanism would inhibit flame generation in the locked position as no fuel would be released until the locking mechanism has been deactivated. However, in these types of lighters, nothing prevents a spark from being generated. As such, the safety goals are only partially met in these types of lighters since young children handling the lighter could still create fires by operating the lighter in close proximity to a source of fuel or near carpets, paper, or other flammable material.
In order to address the above problems, some inventions have introduced locking mechanisms that are activated automatically after each use of the lighter. As such, in these lighters, two states of operation exist: the locked state and the operable state. In the locked state, neither a spark nor a flame can be generated. In contrast, in the operable state, the lighter is no longer locked, so that a flame can be generated. Although, in general, this improvement has alleviated some of the concerns mentioned above, there is still room for further improvement. Specifically, in most dual-state, automatic-locking lighters, once the lighter is unlocked and the trigger activated, the flame that is generated will subsist for as long as the trigger is held in the depressed position. In other words, once the locking mechanism is disabled, flame generation is a simple task involving depression of the trigger. This is of some concern since even young children might be able to achieve this task.
Therefore, there is a need for a device that not only achieves the stated safety goals in generating a flame, but also makes it difficult for inexperienced users and/or young children to sustain the flame. The invention described herein offers such a combination. The invention requires that a safety button, protruding generally from the top portion of the lighter housing shell, be depressed simultaneously with a trigger before a flame can be produced. In addition, the invention requires that the safety button, and not necessarily the trigger, be held in its activated state in order for the flame to be sustained; releasing the safety button after simultaneous activation of both the safety button and the trigger will cause the flame to be extinguished.
The unique structure of the safety button and the cam mechanism contained in the present invention provides for an optimum amount of safety as it makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for young children to operate the device. Young children are capable of carrying out only simple mental concepts. As such, a young child wishing to operate the present invention would attempt do so in the usual way, i.e., by pressing the trigger. However, due to the automatic locking mechanism of the device, the trigger will not move. This alone will act as a deterrent as most young children will simply abandon the device after several unsuccessful attempts. This is true because a child operator must first recognize that both the trigger and the safety button must be operated simultaneously before a flame can be generated. Also, if the child does recognize that the slide-safety button plays a role in activating the lighter, then the child operator must also recognize that the safety button must be operated prior to the trigger to generate a flame. These concepts are generally too convoluted a concept for young children to grasp or appreciate.
Nevertheless, even if a young child were to be able to learn the proper operation of the device, he or she would probably still be unable to actually operate the device. Given the relative location of the trigger and the safety button, operation of the present invention requires that the user be able to grasp the handle of the lighter in his or her hand, operate the trigger with the index finger, and simultaneously operate the safety button with the thumb. Also, this invention also requires the user be able to operate the slide-safety button with the thumb, and operate the trigger with the index finger. This, in turn, requires not only a significant amount of manual dexterity, but also hands that are sufficiently large, namely, adult hands. Moreover, successful operation of the device requires an amount of strength and pulp that are rarely found in the fingers of young children.
In addition, even if a child were to possess the mental capacity for understanding and learning the required process of operation, a large enough hand, and the required amount of manual dexterity, strength, and pulp, so that he or she could somehow generate a flame, he or she would have to recognize a second concept: that the flame will not be sustained unless the safety button is held in its activated state. Again, this is a difficult mental concept for a child to recognize and learn. Moreover, even if learned, the concept would be difficult for a child to operationalize given the above discussion regarding the mental and physical limitations of young children. On the other hand, an adult user would have no difficulty operating the invention as the device requires no more than the simultaneous operation of two strategically positioned buttons.
In addition to all of the safety advantages described above, the invention described herein offers a significant reduction in cost, and a significant increase in ease, of manufacturing. The cam mechanism is an integrated, one-piece member that can perform the functions of two (2) or three (3) separate members in most other utility lighters currently available on the market. Moreover, the entire safety feature, as well as full operation of the device is generally enabled by the manufacture and use in the lighter of two (2) basic elements: the cam mechanism and the safety button. In addition, it is contemplated that these two elements may even be combined, so that only one integrated structural member need be produced. This, of course, would lead to even more significant savings and simplicity in the manufacturing process.
The primary object of this invention is to provide a safety mechanism for utility lighters so that children or inexperienced users will be less likely to inadvertently activate the lighter. Such a safety feature is especially important because young children often play with lighters as toys and because lighters have mechanically moveable parts that make them attractive to children as toys.
Another object of the present invention is to prevent the generation of not only a flame, but even a spark. As noted previously, in a lighter where only the fuel-release mechanism is inhibited in the locked state, young children playing with the lighter can still use the lighter to create sparks. Depending on the child""s surroundings, this can lead to the start of accidental fires if the child is operating the lighter near paper products or any other source of flammable material.
A further object of the invention described herein is to provide an improved device for maximizing safety in utility lighters without compromising ease of use. To this end, the addition of a safety button creates a simple additional step which, for the intended user, leaves the operation of the utility lighter as simple as it has always been to operate a regular utility lighter with no safety feature, yet, creates an additional mental step which acts as a deterrent for non-intended users.
Another object of this invention is to reduce the risk of unintended fires, especially by young children, by making it impossible for the flame to continue to burn unless two (2) separate functions are performed simultaneously and operation of a safety button is continued without interruption.
A final object of the present invention is to meet all of its safety goals while, at the same time, it maximizes ease of manufacturing and minimizes costs associated with manufacturing of parts.
The invention meets its objectives by providing a cam mechanism that integrates several structural elements. In a first preferred embodiment, the cam mechanism consists of a cam lever, a fuel-release lever, and a return spring. Most significantly from a safety standpoint, the cam mechanism contains a cam lever that acts to lock the trigger in the inoperative position.
In a second preferred embodiment, the safety mechanism consists of a cam mechanism and a lever spring. The cam mechanism consists of a fuel-release lever and a safety button. The lever spring locks the trigger in the inoperative position.
Typically, a young child will attempt to activate the lighter by depressing the trigger only. However, when this is done, the trigger will not move at all or significantly, so that neither a spark nor a flame will be generated. Since the trigger is locked in this position, repeated operation of the trigger by a child will yield the same unsuccessful results.
The only way to activate the lighter is to depress the safety button. In the first preferred embodiment, depressing the safety button moves the cam lever out of the path of the trigger, so that the trigger can now be depressed. In the second preferred embodiment, depressing the safety button moves the lever spring out of the path of the trigger, so that the trigger can now be depressed.
Depression of the safety button also causes the fuel-release lever to move, so that, depending on the extent of pressure placed on the safety button, the fuel-release valve may be opened and fuel released. As such, a second significant safety-related feature of the present invention is that a small amount of pressure on the safety button will release the trigger lock. However, such pressure will not release sufficient fuel for a flame to be produced. That is, the most that can happen when the user presses the safety button slightly, and then depresses the trigger, is that a spark would be generated. To ignite the spark, the user would have to continue pressing the safety button further than is required to release the lock, so that sufficient fuel is released before the trigger is activated and a spark and flame are generated.
The above procedure ensures that even if a child were to be able to momentarily press the safety button to release the lock, he or she would still have trouble creating a flame, as doing so would require further pressure on the safety button. This is a simple, yet effective concept. Nevertheless, it is a concept that a young child operating the lighter must recognize and grasp before he or she can successfully operate the lighter. In most cases, the child either will not recognize the usefulness of the safety button or, if he/she does, he/she will not be able to simultaneously press the safety button far enough to create a flame. As such, the child will most likely abandon the lighter after several unsuccessful attempts.
Once the intended operator has pressed the safety button far enough to both unlock the trigger and provide adequate fuel release, the operator then presses the trigger in order to generate a flame. However, to sustain the flame, the operator must continue to hold the safety button in its activated position. This is a significant departure from lighters that are currently in the market. In most lighters currently in use, once a flame is generated by depressing a trigger, the flame will subsist for as long as the operator continues to hold the trigger in its activated position. In contrast, in the present invention, the cam mechanism allows separation of fuel-release on the one hand, and spark generation on the other, so that spark generation will not necessarily lead to the production of a sustained flame.
It follows that, to successfully operate the present invention, the user must recognize that, once a flame has been generated, it is the safety button, and not the ignition trigger, that must be held in the activated position. This is another procedural step which creates a mental concept that is simple for the adult user to grasp and practice, but difficult for young children to either grasp or practice.
In the first preferred embodiment, once the user no longer needs the flame and the safety button is released, the return spring in the cam mechanism ensures that the cam lever, the fuel-release lever, and the safety button return to their original stationary positions, thus also automatically re-locking the trigger in the inoperable state. In the second preferred embodiment, the lever spring ensures that the fuel-release lever and the safety button all return to their original stationary positions when the safety button is released, thus also automatically re-locking the trigger in the inoperable state.
As can be understood from the above description, the invention disclosed herein achieves its safety objectives without making operation of the lighter any more cumbersome than a regular utility lighter. Specifically, the safety button is positioned in such a way that operation of the lighter is very simple in experienced hands. An adult user familiar with the operation of utility lighters still needs to use only one finger to sustain the flame. This allows the user to operate the lighter in a safe, yet non-complicated manner.